 "A capitulation for the ages: England stare at a very long Ashes trip Down Under after soul-crushing defeat in Perth")
If they want to win this series, England are at some stage going to have to make some runs.
For the second time in two innings the tourists’ batting lineup folded in the face of Australian pressure, this time there was no miracle performance from the bowlers to bail them out, this time it cost them a Test match and gifted a 1-0 lead to Australia.
At lunch on the second and, extraordinarily, final day of this Test, England led by 99 with nine wickets remaining – by the close they had lost by eight wickets.
As capitulations go this was one for the ages, a soul-crushing defeat that has the possibility of crippling squad morale at the very first stage of this highly-anticipated series.
England went from pole position to sadly trudging off the field defeated in less than five hours.
Starc decimates English batting lineup
For much of this Test, Mitchell Starc had almost singlehandedly carried Australia on his back, his 7/58 in the first innings helping bowl England out in less than 33 overs. After lunch on Day Two he finally received some help from his fellow bowlers – the results were catastrophic for England.
Scott Boland was something of a figure of fun in England’s first innings, conceding almost a third of the runs and going at 6.20 an over, as the tourists ruthlessly targeted him from the very start of play – in their second it is fair to say he had his revenge.
In his first two overs after the lunch break, Boland removed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, both caught behind the wicket, the latter in particular guilty of a very loose shot.
Quick Reads
View AllAnother massive strike from Starc 🔥
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 22, 2025
Root dragged on, pressure mounting, momentum rolling Australia’s way.
The Ashes drama keeps rising. 😍💥#AUSvENG | THE ASHES | 1st Test Day 2 | LIVE NOW pic.twitter.com/mmtS1YUyI2
An over later Starc had his ninth wicket of the game, Joe Root chopping onto his own stumps, and England were well and truly holed below the waterline. By the time he had his tenth, Ben Stokes caught in the slips by Steve Smith, they were sinking without trace towards the bottom of the Swan River.
Even with a late wag of the tail from Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse, England could still only set Australia 205 for victory – even given the struggles of batsmen in this Test, it never felt like enough.
Head finishes the job in ruthless fashion
England’s bowlers had bailed them out in Australia’s first innings, in their second they looked toothless, the hosts’ opening pair immediately putting them under pressure. If Starc had laid the foundations for Australia’s victory, then it was emphatically Travis Head who finished the job.
Head was only opening because Usman Khawaja was struggling with a bad back, one man’s ill-fortune proving hugely advantageous for his team. Head attacked from the very start – in a low chase there is basically nothing more dangerous.
By the time the first wicket fell, Australia had already knocked off 75 – England’s spirit all but broken and the procession to victory well and truly underway.
He would finish with an extraordinary match-winning 123 from 83 balls, his 69-ball hundred the third fastest in Australian Test history, England finding no response to his swashbuckling stroke play.
England then are exactly where they didn’t want to be, 1-0 down after a first Test in which Australia’s two best bowlers weren’t even playing. More damaging though is the manner of victory, seizing humiliating defeat from the jaws of glorious victory – a disintegration that suggests this has the danger of being a very long tour indeed.
 "Bolsonaro sent to jail, taken into preventive custody by police")
 "G20 leaders adopt South Africa’s summit declaration unanimously amid Trump’s boycott")
 "China drags Japan to UN over Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan as ties hit new low")
 "Once an ally, now labelled a 'traitor' by Trump: Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene?")
 "Bolsonaro sent to jail, taken into preventive custody by police")
 "G20 leaders adopt South Africa’s summit declaration unanimously amid Trump’s boycott")
 "China drags Japan to UN over Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan as ties hit new low")
 "Once an ally, now labelled a 'traitor' by Trump: Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene?")
